Religious development: A synthesis and reformulation

Abstract

Based on developmental psychology, recent theories of religious development have led to proposed stage models of individual spiritual striving. However, these models omit the contributions of psychoanalytic psychology to the understanding of religious functioning. The schema presented in this article reformulates current models of faith development in light of insights from psychodynamic and object relations theory. Description of the fifth stage, the highest level of religious development, represents a composite of the literature on religious maturity. The first objective of this synthesis and reformulation is to offer descriptive criteria by which psychotherapists can discriminate a healthy from an unhealthy religious outlook. The second is to illuminate the intrapsychic dynamics underlying unhealthy religiousness in adults. Such a conceptual framework should assist psychotherapists working with religiously committed patients in assessing their general level of psychospiritual functioning.